Switch-operating device.



- Patented May 7, 1912.

I wi g/1555??2 G. I. WILLIAMS. SWITCH OPERATING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 19, 1911.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE F. WILLIAMS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

SWITCH-OPERATING DEVICE.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. WILLIAMS, a. citizen of the United States,and resident of 'St. Louis, Missouri, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Switch-Operating Devices, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in a switch operating device andhas for its object a lever mechanism located beneath the rails by whichthe switch wedge is held in its set position or released so that thewedge can be operated by a shoe suspended to the car body.

A further object of my invention is to provide a means whereby theswitch wedge is held secure in its proper set position while the car isbeing switched, and a means whereby the same is released by the nexttrain following, so that the switch wedge can be operated by a shoesuspended from the car body so the same can be shifted to permit the carto make a curve or proceed in a straight direction.

Figure l is a top plan view of a street railway track showing theposition of my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation showing themechanism in its proper position be low the rail and the shoe operatingmechanism carried by the car body. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective viewwith parts broken away and in section of the switch wedge. Fig. 1 is adetail perspective view of the lever mechanism located beneath the railby which the rigidity of the switch wedge is controlled.

Referring to the drawings in detail 5 represents a railway railpreferably of the street railway type, 6 the straight run of the trackand 7 the curve.

8 indicates the switch wedge pivoted at the point indicated by thenumeral 9; the wedge 8 is provided with a slot 10 in which operates alug 11 securely fastened to one end of a leaf spring 12, the oppositeend of said spring being firmly secured to the under side of the wedge8; the front surface of the lug 11 is provided with a depression 13which is of suflicient size to permit the insertion of the latch 14Clocated beneath the rail and wedge and securely fastened to the rod 15,which extends along the rail to a distance sufficient to permit the carto operate the switch at a time prior to the contacting of the wheelswith the switch proper. The opposite end of the rod 15 is Specificationof Letters Patent.

Application filed. May 19, 1911.

Patented May 7 1912.

Serial No. 628,240.

connected to a. bell crank lever 16, which is suitably pivoted at thepoint indicated by the numeral 17 and its opposite end is provided witha projection 18 which eX- tends upwardly through the rail and on theside of the flange in such a position as to permit the flange 19 0f therear wheel to contact with the same and press the projection 18downwardly. The rod 15 is suitably supported in bearings 20 and the bellcrank lever together with the latch 141 is brought back to its normalposition after having been operated by the car wheel by means of thespring 21.

The latch 14 is provided with an inclined surface 22 located on eachside of a central projecting point 23; the object of this is that afterthe wedge 8 has been shifted to the right or left and, the lug 11pressed downwardly by the action of the car wheel the same will rideover the inclined surface and permit the latch to enter the depression13 thus holding the lug in a depressed position shown in Fig. 2. Theessential reason of holding the lug in a depressed position is 'to lockthe wedge in its set position as well as to prevent vehicles or otherobjects from contacting with the same when not in use. hen the wedge 8has been shifted so that the car is to'be directed over the straightline the lug is held in position on the right hand side of the point 23,and when the car is making the curve the lug is depressed so as tocontact with the inclined surface of the latch on the left hand side ofthe point 23.

When the car is passing over the straight run the car wheel itself willdepress the lug 11, but on the contrary when the car is making thecurve, in order to depress the lug 11 I provide an attachment secured tothe under side of the car platform and consisting of a lever 24 pivotedat the point indicated by the numeral 25, and suspending from the leveris an arm 26 provided with a roller 27; this roller is lowered so as tocontact with the rail by means of the motorman or operator stepping uponthe foot lever 28, and the same is held in its lowered position by meansof the ratchet 29 engaging with the teeth formed on the foot lever, andafter the same has contacted with the log the mechanism is released bythe foot and permitted to be returned to its normal position, by aspring or other Well known means.

On the car body is provided a mechanism by which the switch wedge 8 isoperated so as to shift the same to the right or left as is desired;this mechanism consisting of a vertical rod 80 provided with a shoe 31.The upper end of the rod is provided with a lever 32 operating in atoothed segment 33 by which the shoe is held in set position, and whenthe shoe is set it contacts with the lug 11 shifting the switch wedge tothe right or left depending upon the direction the car is to travel.

In the event the switch should be located on the left hand side of thetrack then in such instances I provide a connecting bar 34. extendingunderneath the car body to the opposite side and connected to a shortsuspending rod provided with a shoe so that by the operation of thelever both shoes are simultaneously operated.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The bell crank lever andlug 11 of the switch wedge are normally in the position as shown in Fig.2. As a car approaches the flange 19 of the front wheel contacts withthe projection 18 depressing the same, operating the bell crank lever,pulling upon the rod 15 thereby releasing the toothed end of the latch14 from the depression in the lug,. and by means of the leafed spring 12the lug is raised in a position as shown in Fig. 3. The car operatorthen manipulates the lever 32 pressing the shoe 31 in an inelinedposition so as to contact with the lug 11 and when such contact is madethe switch wedge 8 is thrown either to the right or left as the case maybe, and as the car passes over the wedge the lug 11 is depressed andautomatically engages with the latch 14; and the same is held in adepressed position. This operation is repeated by every approaching car.By this arrangement there is no need of stopping a car for the purposeof switching the same and the use of swiplch bars of the common type isdispensed wit Having thus fully described my inven tion, what I claim asnew and desire to have secured to me by the grant of Letters Patent, is:

1. A switch operating device comprising a lever mechanism locatedparallel with the rail, a bell crank lever located in alinement with therail and arranged to be depressed.

by the car wheel, a latch carried by the lever mechanism and operatedwhen the bell crank lever is depressed, a wedge piv-- otally located inproper relation wlth the rails, a spring actuated lug carried by thewedge and arranged to project through an opening therein, said lug heldin depressed position by the contact of the latch and a shoe carried bythe car body by which the wedge is shifted from right to left when thesame is brought in contact with the projecting lug, substantially asspecified.

2. A switch operating device comprising a wedge pivotally located inproper alinement with the rails of the track, a spring actuated lugcarried by said wedge and arranged to operate in a slot formed therein,a rod extending along the rail and support ed in suitable bearings, alatch formed on the end of said rod and arranged to contact with the lugof the wedge and to hold the same in a depressed position simultaneouslylocking the wedge in its set position, a bell crank lever secured to therail and connected to the rod, the one end of the lever located inrelative position with the rail so as to be depressed when the car wheelcontacts therewith, a switch operating mechanism carried by the carwhich will contact with the projecting lug of the wedge and shift thesame to the right or left as desired and a means carried by the car bodyfor depressing the lug, substantially as specified.

3. A switch operating device comprising a wedge located in relativeposition with the rails of the track, a lug carried by said wedge, meansfor holding the lug in a depressed position, simultaneously locking thewedge, means for releasing the lug and per-- mitting it to projectbeyond the surface of the wedge and releasing the same from its lockedposition and a means carried by the car body by which the lug iscontacted and the wedge shifted and the lug depressed and held in lockedposition by the passage of the car over the same, substantially asspecified.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inpresence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE F. \VILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

ALFRED A. EIOKS, VVAL'rnR C. STEIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

